Cover

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

I am deeply indebted to Jo Ann Moran Cruz and Bennett
Hill, my doctoral advisers on the twelfth-century foundation and
expansion of the congregation of Tiron, and to my third adviser,
Theodore Evergates, for his expert editing of the introduction.
Joseph Tylenda, S.J., director of Woodstock Library, Georgetown ...

Introduction

Bernard of Tiron (ca. I046-III6) and Robert of Arbrissel (ca.
I045-III6), founder of Fontevraud (II0l), were among the most influential
monastic reformers of their time, but Bernard has drawn
less scholarly attention. Bernard of Tiron, founder of Tiron Abbey
(II07) (diocese of Chartres, 12.8 kilometers, or 7.7 miles, east
of Nogent-le-Rotrou in Perche) and of distant priories in Beaujolais ...

Note on the Translation

My translation of the vita is based on the version edited by
Godefroy Henskens in the Acta Sanctorum. The Latin texts of
the Sermon, Prayer to Blessed Bernard, and Synopsis of the Life
of Holy Bernard, Abbot of Tiron Abbey, are published in Bernard
Beck, ...

CHAPTER 1 Bernard's Education and Monastic Life in
the Monastery of Saint-Cyprien

6. Bernard, a native of Ponthieu1 in the territory of Abbeville,
was born to honest and religious parents, who did hospice
and humanitarian work and, insofar as their means allowed, diligently
ministered to Christ in the form of His poorest members.
They designated him for a liberal education, and by heavenly ...

CHAPTER 2 Claustral Prior of the Monastery of
Saint-Savin, Discipline Restored,
and Other Splendid Deeds

13. At that time a monk of the monastery of Saint-Cyprien,
namely Gervais, whom we mentioned above, was requested by
many prayers of the entire communiry to consent to rule the abbey
of Saint-Savin.1 There was no way Gervais could be induced
to consent, neither by the bishop's command nor by the obedience
his abbot ...

CHAPTER 3 Hermit Life in Solitude in Maine

19. So that the very thing that the Mother of God had predicted
to the holy man would be proven true, another trial for
him came up immediately. When he learned of the monks' intention
to make him their abbot, he went away from them in secrecy.
He intended to pursue something he had longed to do for ...

CHAPTER 4 Solitary Life on the Chausey Island.
Pirates Corrected

26. A hermit who pitied Bernard's poverty gave one of his
companions eighteen coins.1 Compassionately he let them have
this little bit of money so they could pay their travel costs, at
least for a few days. When the man of the Lord found out, in
high indignation, that the companion was taking money with ...

CHAPTER 5 Blessed Bernard's Return to the Earlier
Hermit Community and Then to His
First Monastery of Saint-Cyprien

36. Meanwhile the monks of Saint-Savin, who had made every
effort to have Bernard rule their monastery, having looked
for him everywhere without finding him anywhere, established
another man as their shepherd.1 Peter of l'Etoile learned of it immediately,
because he lived in their vicinity. He promptly hurried
to the wilderness ...

CHAPTER 6 He Was Made Abbot of Saint-Cyprien:
He Turned from Persecution to Preaching.
The Morals of the Clerics Were Reformed

44. When four months had passed, Reginald fell into the grip
of a serious illness and took to his bed. Since the day of his death
was approaching, the brothers gathered around him. They pleaded
with him to deign to designate his successor, through revelation
by the Holy Spirit, because he was an extremely learned ...

CHAPTER 7 Two Trips to Rome in Defense of the Abbey.
The Abbey Was Relinquished. Disciples
Were Collected Elsewhere

55. Meanwhile, for about four years the monks of Saint Cyprien
had expended much effort and expense trying to free
their monastery from the false claim of the Cluniacs and had
been unsuccessful. Since their need was urgent, in distress they
were forced to go into the desert with letters from the bishop of ...

CHAPTER 8 Monastery Constructed in
the County of Perche, Favors Accepted
and Collected for Division
among Others

63. A nod from Divine Providence inspired its servant Bernard
and all his disciples to migrate to other regions and to leave
for distant lonely places. Accordingly he sent a small group of his
disciples to seek some vast desert where they could build a foundation
large enough to hold them all at the same time, so none ...

CHAPTER 9 Monastery Built on the Thironne River.
Favors Granted by Count Rotrou

77. At that time, so that Bernard, soldier of Christ, would
not lack toil and tribulation to combat, the monks of Saint Denis
said that they were entitled to the tithes and burial fees1
of the very tract that Count Rotrou had given to him. This malicious
claim forced him to abandon the buildings that his disciples
had constructed ...

CHAPTER 10 Revelation of Subsequent Eternal Salvation
of Two Monks. Some Miracles

83. One night, while the brothers were chanting the psalms appointed
for nocturns (RE, 9-n)1 in the oratory, a brother reached
the point of death. Accordingly, when the clappers were struck
according to the ritual, the brothers gathered together. They
wanted to conduct the funeral service of the now-dead brother ...

CHAPTER I I Hospitality. Spirit of Prophecy.
Rumor's Report of Holiness

... The disciple was failing to consider that holiness of life does not
come from performing miracles but from bringing light and doing
justice. For a very long time he continued these deliberations
and spied constantly on Bernard's way of life. Then, one night
there came ...

CHAPTER 12 At the Point of Death: Two Exhortations
to His Monks, Reception of the
Deathbed Sacrament

105. Bernard was like fragrant nard,1 not by chance but I
reckon by Highest Providence, as was shown by the very letters
of his name. The fragrance of his many virtues continuously
scented the idleness of earthly depravity with a whiff of most delicate
odors, like smoke from aromatic myrrh and frankincense ...

CHAPTER 13 Final Preparation for Death. Revelations,
Death, Burial

n6. With some of them crying out and others lying half-dead
on the ground in spasms, the man, who always did good
works, was constrained to be of two minds about his preferences,
for he did not want to leave his desolate flock or to be kept any
longer from the presence of the Supreme Good. ...

CHAPTER 14 Analecta of Various Deeds
Added to the Vita

127. If anyone wishes to hear how intolerable it was to Bernard
if anything better than the ordinary food was served to him
in the refectory, let him hear what Bernard often did. When he
entered the kitchen one day, he saw a little pot cooking on the
fire with the others. When he asked whose it was, he learned ...

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